ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a thought experiment which, although it is both over-simple and unsubtle, none the less raises some important educational issues and throws serious doubt upon the educational value of the modular approach. The experiment involves describing two groups of students and two universities and asks the reader to decide how they would be best matched. This thought experiment illuminates some of the major errors that have accompanied the expansion of higher education. Tough minded students who have a well informed understanding of what constitutes an education may resist these temptations, but the weaker or less confident student is likely to be coaxed or tempted into surface learning, even when they appreciate its shortcomings. A Thought Experiment One reason why the modular system of higher education was introduced was because it was seen as a way of educating large numbers of students more "efficiently" - that is to say at less expense and with fewer teaching staff.
